Charles Plewman

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Notes:

He established a general dealer's business at Philipstown, after having traded in Colesburg, but fortune did not favour him and he was compelled to liquidate the business. He ended his years in Cape Town, employed in a minor post in the Cape Government Railways. Two of his daughters (Florrie and Jane) were educated and cared for by an uncle, (Robert Philip) and aunt (Edith), his son Charles apparently migrated to Australia, and his second son Thomas is said to have died during the South African War.

Family/Spouse: Mary Bowler. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Jane Plewman
2. Thomas Plewman died between 1899 and 1903 in South Africa.
3. Florence Louisa Plewman was born about 1869.
4. Violet Plewman
5. Comfort Plewman died in South Africa.
6. Charles Plewman was born about 1869; died about 1871.

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 531
• Name: Thomas John Plewman
• Name: Thomas Plowman
• Settler: 3 Dec 1819, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Thomas Plewman, the progenitor of the Plewman's in South Africa, landed at Port Elizabeth (Algoa Bay) with an older brother Micheal on the 10th April 1820. Born in Dublin, the two brothers emigrated to South Africa under the settlement scheme inaugurated by the British Parliament in June 1819, during the terms of office of Lord Charles Somerset at the Cape.

Micheal Plewman, a pensioner in the Marines, was 40 years old and was married, but Thomas Plewman was a young man, 23 years of age. They were members of Bailies party of emigrants and sailed from Deptford on the Thames, on the 9th December 1819 in the "Chapman", a sailing vessel of under 500 tons. The official records give the name as "Plowman", but the correct spelling of the surname is "Plewman".

The members of Bailies's party were settled at Cuylerville, near the mouth of the Fish River in the district of Albany. Micheal Plewman was one of the signatories to a letter of appreciation written on the 11th April 1820 on behalf of all the passengers to the Captain of the "Chapman". He. however, did not remain here long and with the consent of the Authorities, returned to England.

History record that the arrangements made for settling so large a number of immigrants untrained on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony, left much to be desired, and as there was a complete failure of crops during the first three years the Authorities at the Cape allowed the settlers to move away and go wherever they could make a living. Many moved to the more settled areas in the Cape Colony, but the pioneering spirit of Thomas Plewman caused him to migrate to Colesburg, a town in the making in the most northerly portion of the Colony, where he carried on his trade of cabinet-maker.

Thomas married Louisa Rosa Robinson and their eldest child, Thomas John, was the first white child born in Colesburg. The Plewman's home in Colesburg was one of the first houses to be built in the township.

Thomas Plewman was also interested in farming and spent some time at Fauriesmith in the then Orange Free State, but apparently he always found difficulty in knowing his own cattle. A cream coloured ox was uncommon and as he possessed one, he regarded it as an infallible means of identity and was prone to lay claim to any span of oxen which happened to have a cream coloured ox in it's number. He never left the shores of South Africa again, but the deep attachment he had for his mother was pointedly revealed, when after his death, a small piece of cake, carefully kept in a tin, the last gift from his mother when he left Ireland 47 years before, was found amongst his treasured possessions.

He came from Dunlavin, Ireland and emigrated with his uncle Michael Plowman. In May 1820 he left Bailie's party's location to live in Grahamstown and work as a cabinetmaker for the officers of the Royal African Corps, under the patronage of Captain Sparks. His application for the grant of an erf of land in Grahamstown was unsuccessful, and in 1823 he requested a colonial pass to move to another part of the country. He was resident in Somerset in 1828, and moved from there to Graaff Reinet and finally Colesberg, where he established himself as a storekeeper, and traded with the emigrant Boers in Transorangia and the chiefdoms further north. He married Louisa Rosa Robinson of Cradock and founded a prominent Colesberg family.
PRO CO 48/64, O'Gallagher to Colonial Department, 29.4.1835 (reference supplied by Prof. W.A.Maxwell); Gutsche, The Microcosm; CO 8448 no.211, 29.8.1820; CO 8485, n.d. (1821); CO 201 no.152, 27.10.1823; CO 8461 no.67, memorial of residents of Somerset, 26.9.1828.


Settler:
Bailie's party on the Chapman

Thomas married Louisa Rosa Robinson, 1820 Settler in 1831 in Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Louisa (daughter of Robert Robinson, 1820 Settler and Martha Strutt, 1820 Settler) was born on 11 Feb 1814 in England; died on 25 Jan 1879 in Colesberg, Northern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 1701
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

She was 5 years old when she went to South Africa with the 1820 settlers. Her second name could have been Rosina.
As a child she miraculously recovered from a severe attach of smallpox, a dreaded decease in those days, but she bore the marks thereof throughout her life.
She spent the later years of her life in Fauriesmith were her youngest son (Robert Philip) was a merchant.

Settler:
Erith's party on the Brilliant

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 1700
• Immigration: 1820, Settlers, South Africa
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England
• Occupation: 1828, Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Butcher
• Occupation: 1837, Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Builder

Notes:

Information on the Erith party derived from No46 on the Colonial Dept list:-
A party of 120 from Surrey led by James Thomas Erith,a baker of 2 Barden Place, Peckham Surrey and first cousin to Robert Robinson.
Erith made earlier application in Jan 1819 to take settlers to the Cape in partnership with Thomas Beale, but fell through, Beale's debts made it too risky a speculation according to Erith. With this letter was a list of his party; his own family, two married and 7 single men, all from Minster, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Erith himself was a Kentishman. Only three names from the list - Erith himself, his cousin Robert Robinson and John Pankhurst - were in the final sailing list of the party. They sailed in the ship "Brilliant" captained by Brig. Captain W. Bothwell, embarked at Deptford, which sailed from Gravesend on the 15 February 1820 and reached Simon's Bay on 30 April 1820 and Algoa Bay on the 15 May. They were located on land then forming part of the Bathurst commonage on the left bank of the Torrens River but were shortly moved to the location at the Kaffir Kraal River source rejected by Damant's party. They named it New Botany Bay. The party had dispersed by 1823 and the Government resumed the land. It is now called Botany. Erf No.58 in Paulet Street, Somerset East (Between Paulet and Henry Streets to day No. 41, Mr Pierre Du Toits Place) was bought by Robert Robinson (27) a Butcher, in 1825, his wife Martha (26), and five children under five years: Louise (5), Robert (4), John (2), Phillip (1), William (infant) who was part of this party later settled in Albany, near Grahamstown, after some years of unsuccessful farming, moved to Cradock, where he became a builder in 1837. Here Sir J. B. was born in 1840. After their arrival in South Africa with their five Children, Robert and Martha had ten more children: they had six sons and nine daughters in all.

Settler:
Erith's party on the Brilliant

Robert married Martha Strutt, 1820 Settler on 6 Nov 1813 in St Margaret's Church, Rochester, Kent, England. Martha (daughter of John Strutt and Sarah Frances Beaumont) was born on 8 Jan 1794 in High Halstow, Kent, England; was christened on 31 Jan 1796 in High Halstow, Kent, England; died about 1854 in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 1705
• Name: Martha Rozina Strutt
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Her second name could have been Emily.

Description: Martha Strutt.
Christened: 31 January 1796
Father: John Strutt
Mother: Sarah Frances Beaumont

Source: England and Wales Christenings 1538-1975
Film No: 992518 LDS
Batch No: C13137-2


Settler:
Erith's party on the Brilliant

Notes:

Married:
County Kent
Place (with link) Rochester
Church name (with link) St Margaret of Antioch
Register type (with link) Parish Register
Register entry number 104
Marriage date 06 Nov 1813
Groom forename Robert
Groom surname ROBINSON
Groom parish Of this Parish
Groom condition bachelor
Bride forename Martha
Bride surname STRUTT
Bride parish Of this Parish
Bride condition spinster
Witness1 forename Charlotte
Witness1 surname BERTIER
Witness2 forename William
Witness2 surname SMITH

Phillip married Charlotte Erith on 18 Oct 1774 in St Margaret's, Rochester, Kent, England. Charlotte (daughter of William Erith and Amey Bulsel) was born on 24 Apr 1753 in Rochester, Kent, England; was christened on 13 May 1753 in Rochester, Kent, England; died on 11 Nov 1838 in Chatham, Kent, England; was buried in Gillingham, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Date: 11 Nov 1838
Place: Medway Workhouse (Chatham)
Age: 86
Occupation: Widow of Philip Robinson, Labourer
Cause of death: General Decay
Informant: Francis Hunt, occupier of the Medway Workhouse
Registered: 12 Nov 1838

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: St Nicholas, Rochester

John + Sarah Frances Beaumont. Sarah was born about 1776; was christened on 31 Jan 1796 in Hugh Halstow. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]